When Darkness Falls
by androidilenya
Summary: "He it was that now rode out, and with him came only a small company of black-harnessed soldiery, and a single banner, black but bearing on it in red the Evil Eye. Now halting a few paces before the Captains of the West he looked them up and down and laughed." Oneshot, Mouth of Sauron pov. Written for B2MEM 2013.


**Written for B2MEM 2013~ **

**Prompt from Day One: Vanity: ****"He it was that now rode out, and with him came only a small company of black-harnessed soldiery, and a single banner, black but bearing on it in red the Evil Eye. Now halting a few paces before the Captains of the West he looked them up and down and laughed.**

**'Is there anyone in this rout with authority to treat with me?' he asked. 'Or indeed with wit to understand me? Not thou at least!' he mocked, turning to Aragorn with scorn. 'It needs more to make a king than a piece of elvish glass, or a rabble such as this. Why, any brigand of the hills can show as good a following!'"**

**From The Return of the King, Book V, Chapter 10**

* * *

It had been long since he had seen the sunlight. Real sunlight, that was - gold and warm and vibrant. The only light that filtered through the dark clouds of Mordor was sickly and somehow _dirty_, as though it had been tainted by its passage through the smoke and grime. It never seemed to truly illuminate anything, only cast more shadows and make the darkness even more deep.

He didn't really mind, though. The darkness had always been more comfortable than the light.

How long had he been here, in the smoke and ruin of his master's land? He had forgotten, along with so many other things - like his name.

_What is my name? _

Once, he had been from a proud race, a noble one. There had been others of his kind. He had lived and loved and fought - or had that all been a dream of his? Maybe there had never been anything other than the darkness.

_It doesn't matter._

* * *

_What do you want? Is it riches, power, women? I can give it to you, and it costs you nothing._

Nothing but his life, nothing but his soul. A small price to pay for immortality, wealth, power... all things he had asked of Sauron, the master he willingly served. And he had received everything the Dark Lord promised. Everything and more - more than he could have ever dreamed.

An eternity serving a dark master, slowly forgetting all else but what he was allowed to keep. And when he woke one day - or did not wake, as he did not sleep any more - and could not remember his name... there was nothing else to do but accept that his name was not necessary. It did not matter, like so much else - like the light, and the day, and the stars he hadn't seen for centuries.

But sometimes he wondered who he had been, all those centuries ago. Before Sauron had wooed him, before he had turned to the darkness. What had his name been? (Had he ever had a name?)

Some days - or nights, did it matter where the sun didn't dare show its face? - he could almost remember. A sound, on the tip of his tongue, so close... but never quite there. The shadow of a memory - fitting, in a land where nothing but shadows dwelt. But if an Age of living in the darkness had taught him one thing, it was that there was no point in chasing after shadows.

He was content with his life, the life his master had given to him. He was lord over a great host - and if that host was a savage, filthy race, lower than the lowest Man he had ever known in times before, what did it matter? He had power, the power he had been promised and more.

And there was always more to be gained. His master was a cruel lord, but it was a cruelty that was justified. Those who dared stand against him, those that tried to resist the storm of darkness, they were the ones that deserved to fall.

He would benefit from their fall. Already, his master promised a lordship over the tower to the west, over the lands of the horselords. Once, that tower had been raised by his kinsmen - but their names, too, were lost in the shadows of time. None were remembered. Only the work of their hands stood, needle-sharp and ink-black, piercing the sky.

He wondered if the sun shone there, too. If it ever had.

* * *

_Immortality is cheap. I can give you that, if you truly desire it._

What man did not, in his heart of hearts, fear death? He had been no different. There was always that pathway into the hearts of Men, no matter how noble they were, by whatever high names they called themselves. And his master had known that, had always known that, as had the one-who-came-before, the Foe of the World.

Mortality was an ugly thing.

And Sauron offered an escape from it.

_Immortality is cheap. The only price I ask is your life, your soul... your name._

* * *

None could stand against his master. These Men that rode against him, accompanied by a scattering of Elves - lingering, falling remnant of the long-forgotten West - these were nothing more than a last, guttering candle, shuddering in the wind of the coming storm. They could prance about before the Gates all they wished, it would be to no avail.

There was no one alive capable of defying his master.

_Go out. Go out and show them the might of the Dark Lord. Send them home with their tails between their legs, revealed as the dogs they are. Laugh at them, spit in their faces, revile them. They deserve it, for daring to challenge the power of your master._

These Men could not fight his master. No one could. And he - his master's mouth, his messenger, his trusted servant - knew that better than anyone else. Everyone was helpless against the might of his lord.

_What is my name? It doesn't matter, it never did, it was such a small price to pay..._

_Such a small price._

* * *

__**end~**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated.**


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